2013: First International Success and Por Portugal A Fora 2
Mesinha de Cabeceira and First International Success It was right after the first single (H A S É D, 2012/04/06) was released that Duarte started writing material to his, at the time, unnamed album, when he arrived in Lisbon. Some lyrics were written faster than others, as A Sinfonia D P V and 16-12, and others were perfected and late arrivals, like Conteúdo Por Assimilar or Eu Não Quero Comer A Sopa. U....l, one of the album's most famous songs and also a true fan's favourite was composed when the author was abroad. Very few songs were written under these circumstances. U....l is still considered by Duarte as "an extremely unsettling moment of inspiration". Recording Process All of the 15 songs present in the album were recorded in a old USB Mic which gave the first edition of the music a very raw, yet unclear sound, which made the listeners slighltly disappointed given the expectations at first. To compensate for the lack of sound quality of the album, César Editoras released in January 2014 a new Re-Recorded version of the first 13 songs of the album with the last untouched two as "Mesinha De Cabeceira Regravado". This "new" album contains newly arranged versions and clearer sound, as well as some songs recorded in one take only, making them sound as if they were played during a rehearsal. Every single song was recorded with an Esteve Classical Guitar in two different rented studios. The recordings took about 7 months to finish, due to the new songs entering the album and also new ideas for the pre-existing ones that changed these over time. Many songs were interrupted by César Editoras' personnel, creating funny moments and also a huge lack of patience by the artist to keep on recording (see: Ode À Promiscuidade (Versão 2)). Duarte recorded about half of the initial version accompanied by another member of César Editoras, who laughed so many times he was kicked out of the project and was not awarded any payment for his previous work on the recorded songs. Out of respect his or her name was not disclosed. Song's Themes and Reception The first César Editoras produced album approached a wide range of sordid and ridiculous themes. Many songs were written about nonsensical situations in a satirical way, filled with irony and many setbacks as these progress. Most tracks make references to shock value topics. The lack of emotional bonds (Ode À Promiscuidade/Por Outra Mulher/IMC/Pequeno Enfarte Do Miocárdio, or the excess of these (Ipod (Versão 2)) are extremely present. The human relationship is always seen as something complex, nasty and joke worthy in this album. Many criticism to female behaviour were the central theme to some of the most iconic songs of the album: Carlos E Maria-Do-Mar and Ode À Promiscuidade. On the other hand, earlier songs, written when the author only knew one or two basic chords, such as Ámen or 16-12 are very simple and straighforward lacking a clear joke, being therefore, the song the joke itself. These are very short and repetitive songs that usually are skipped when listening to the album. But after a big wave of human degradation, the album ends with a childish, yet mildly heavy tone. Eu Não Quero Comer A Sopa speaks of a spoiled child who would do anything to be able not to eat his soup. The catchy chorus resembles a street protest chant, reminding some listeners of a kid hitting the table with fork and knive protesting against the food he's served. Conteúdo Para Assimilar tells us the story of a child that realizes, for the right and wrong reasons, that having skipped school was a bad idea. In the end, he promises himself to activate more alarms in the morning in order to wake up with more ease. After an irrelevant cover comes O Trajecto, considered by many the best song on the album. The absence of significant lyrics might be the reason. The song follows a basic guitar fingerpicking and a strumming one for 1:19 minutes, ending with the iconic sentence that gives the song its name. Mesinha De Cabeceira's reception was considered reasonable. The album was considered by various Media Instituitions as "Very original but showing lots of room for improvement". The edgy lyrics caused a mix reception among the buyers. As expected, the record did not do well among women. Some songs were considered "unnecessary fillers, as 16-12, Conteúdo Para Assimilar and A Mamã Fez Um Bolo" but the general reviews regarded the album as "something that will take many years to have closure and from which we would wish the distance would be bigger. All in all, just like Chernobyl". The album was as well a very important release to the foreign audience of César Editoras. It sold an unknown amount of copies in Niger, a country that was always very fond of the company's work. Citing André Lazarra: "I don´t know how many copies were sold, or if they were shipped. I only care whether we were recognized outside our little cage we call Portugal. If this acknowledgement requires getting infected with Malaria, I must warn you that given all that I've been infected with, I must now be immune to every challenge Africa brings." Tudo O Que Não Entra Há De Sair: A Inverosímil Colectânea De Lados B Translating "Everything Not Coming In Will Come Out: The Incredible Collection Of B Sides", was a 7-copies-limited album released in early September 2013 containing all B Sides that did not make the album and also alternative versions of Mesinha De Cabeceira's Ode À Promiscuidade, Ámen, IMC and a cover featuring Shaýro of Editors' Munich. A live cover version of "Oração De São Pedro" is also on the album (Track 7), due to the fact that Duarte knew the song but not the lyrics when it was played. After having started reading the lines he had to interrupt the song and questioned its misleading and ambiguous lyrics which leaded to a mix reaction of the crowd. Whether it was on purpous or not was never revealed, but in an interview a few months after the incident, Duarte said that "the song still gives me goosebumps and I can never detach myself from the obvious pedophile second meaning present in the song. Go read the lines!". There are two Instrumental songs and, counting with Oração De São Pedro, there are three live ones, that were never studio recorded: Sons Da Cidade and a fan favourite The Kugelschreiber (meaning The Pen, also refered to as A Caneta. This song was written while Duarte was abroad. It was only played live twice as of 2016). The collection was not charged, and was only awarded to early buyers of the main album. Some other buyers asked César Editoras to resume the production, but it was useless. In 2014 César Editoras offered some clients the option to buy this album but the interest had vanished. One original copy is known to exist by the company. Por Portugal A Fora 2 ; End of 2013 Por Portugal A Fora Main Page In middle 2013, circa 1 month after the release of Mesinha De Cabeceira, the second episode and "the last of the triolgy" of Por Portugal A Fora was announced. Being eagerly awaited by the elite crowd who watched it, the episode was shown once on the first week of September at midnight. Although it was considered funnier, clearer and better structured, the audience was strategically less and César Editoras did not try to profit with the release. The show was regarded by André Lazarra as a "mere 'thankyou' to our dearest fans and a way to express our gratitude through an unique and unmatched experience". The show was hosted in the exact same venue the first episode was and aproached the same topics and themes. Early Writing And Planning Immediately after the end of September of 2012, the second episode of Por Portugal A Fora begun being written. Many jokes and important aspects were written during almost a year (Until June 2013) making the episode well fundamented and not leaving anything out. On an extremely fragile piece of paper many jokes were written. This page, known for being quite simple looking, yet very important was soon enough employed in the alignment of the ideas and sketches. Many jokes and bits were also written in loco. Parting Ways Against expectation, in June, it was revealed by César Editoras that a crucial member resigned from shooting the second episode days before the shooting itself. Without heartfeelings, the two main members decided at first to cancel the show, having then decided to do it anyway. A correct decision. The former member was nevertheless mentioned in the credits as one and was also credited for his previous worked, since this second episode would be the last one of the trilogy. Shooting The shooting of this episode occured during one weekend, having been completed in under 10 hours. The good planing and work rate, as well as the will to get the show out helped the cast to do one of the most memorable works of their lives. Just as in the first episode, an iPod Touch was used to record everything. This time it was held horizontally instead of vertically, providing a better view to the viewer, who now did not see two black stripes in the television, alongside the video itself. Production The final touches were taken place in Lisbon, in Beco Do Julião, where, for one week, many processes were held. This consisted in the montage of course, the alignment, the captions and also the musical side of the episode. Against expectation once again the show lasted 28 minutes, roughly the same duration as the debut one. However, due to its quality (compared to the previous) the viewership thought it was slighlty shorter. A well timed compliment. There were no legal consequences deriving from the non-authorized shooting and the music's copyright infringement. Reception As expected, the audience's reception was not negative, but unexpectedly, it was quite positive. The 28 minute episode felt shorter and was aclaimed, also due to the fact that it was made only by two of the three initial members. Although it faced some rough opinions, mainly coming from the subjects of jokes, the approval rate was nearly 70%. Lazarra said afterwards that "the fact the episode aired so late at night (Midnight) might have had an influence on the people's patience towards the show". Some of the new segments gave Por Portugal A Fora 2 a new lump of fresh air, showing therefore a big difference in format relatively to the former episode. As Duarte explained "this episode does not centre itself so much in the town, but in the people. That had a nice impact on the audience. They felt a part of the story, even though we were constantly mocking them". Also, the final segment, in which old and funny photographs of the audience involved were shown accompanied with a string driven tune, ended the trilogy perfectly, as if, after so many jokes, peace was finally made in the form of an homage to the subjects.